I'm a huge fan of garbanzo beans, but in the re-make of this favorite salad I'm using less beans and more tomatoes, olives, and herbs for a more carb-conscious salad. If Garbanzos are not your favorite, use a different type of bean for this tasty vegan salad that's also gluten-free, dairy-free, and South Beach Diet friendly.

For people with tomatoes in the garden, we're approaching that point in the summer where some kind of salad that uses tomatoes is going to appear on the table nearly every day, and this Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes, Olives, Basil, and Parsley is lovely for a summer side dish, or even as a main-dish salad for a light meal. And if you have some fresh herbs in your garden, this salad is a perfect way to spotlight them.

I've always been quite a fan of chickpeas, and at one time I had a weekend ritual of soaking them overnight and cooking them the next day. But when I made this salad again recently to re-shoot the old photos, I decided to reduce the amount of chickpeas to make the salad a bit more carb-conscious. That gave me a chance to use more tomatoes, olives, and herbs, which in my opinion only made the salad better!

This salad was originally inspired by one I saw in Joanne Weir's From Tapas to Meze, and I improvised on it back in 2008 after thinking about what needed to be used in the garden and what would taste good with the chickpeas I'd just cooked. If you're not having a chickpea-soaking ritual going on at your house, of course you can make this with canned garbanzo beans.

You can definitely use less chickpeas like I did this time, or even skip the chickpeas completely if you prefer, but please be sure not to skip the fresh basil and fresh parsley, which is what makes the salad so delicious. If you have other fresh herbs in the garden, throw some of those in as well!

Whether you soak chickpeas and cook them from scratch or just rinse canned chickpeas, don't skip the step of marinating the beans in some red wine vinegar and lemon juice while you prep other ingredients! Then cut up tomatoes (and drain in a colander if they're juicy), slice olives, and chop red onion and toss the other ingredients with the marinating beans.

Chop up a generous amount of fresh basil and parsley, or any other fresh herbs you're using. (I used my favorite Herb Scissors to cut up the basil.) Toss herbs with the marinating ingredients. Then whisk together red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make the dressing; add the dressing to ingredients in the bowl, and toss the entire salad again.

If you're cooking your own chickpeas, soak chickpeas in cold water overnight or for at least 8 hours . Drain soaking water, then put beans into pan with fresh water and simmer until beans are tender. This can take from 45 minutes to several hours, depending on how fresh the beans are, so plan ahead. (You can also cook the chickpeas in a slow cooker or pressure cooker.) For canned beans, drain into colander and rinse with cold water until no more foam appears. Whether using freshly-cooked or canned beans, drain well, then place in large plastic bowl and toss with 1 T red wine vinegar and 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice.

Chop tomatoes and drain in a colander while you chop the onions and slice olives, then add drained tomatoes, chopped onions, and sliced olives to the bowl with the marinating beans.

Wash and dry basil and parsley, using salad spinner or washing in the sink and drying with paper towels. Finely chop herbs, then add to marinating salad ingredients and gently combine.

Put 3 T red wine vinegar and 1 tsp fresh lemon juice in a small bowl or glass measuring cup, then whisk in olive oil until dressing is emulsified. Stir salt and pepper into dressing. Gently mix dressing into salad, then season to taste with additional salt and fresh ground black pepper. The salad can marinate at room temperature for an hour or two before serving.

I did refrigerate leftovers with pretty good results, but it's definitely best when freshly made and before being refrigerated.

This salad is great for any phase of the South Beach Diet, and is suitable for any type of low-glycemic eating plan. With the reduced amount of beans, it might work for some low-carb diets; you could also make the salad without beans and it would still be good.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Beans In Your Life?
(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

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Naten-n-annie, I think if you rinse the garbanzos well, it helps with the downwind problem!

It's purely a personal choice whether to use canned or fresh beans. Yes, the canned beans are great when time is an issue. But if you buy the beans at a reputable store where they're likely to not be overly old, I think it's well worth the trouble to soak and cook them, and MUCH cheaper.

I really do use the two types of parsley interchangeably, since I have both in my garden but I used curly parsley in this recipe.

Ya know, the great thing about the healthy dishes you post is that they always look lovely enough for people to actually want to make them. They look delicious and enjoyable. I don't know if that even makes sense :P.

I guess it's that sometimes I see people who only cook healthy stuff and it sometimes seems so boring and bland. Yours never does and it's very encouraging to those of us who really need new and interesting nutritious dishes. So thank you.

This salad looks wonderful. Until recently I soaked and cooked my own chick peas. Just lately I've been using canned ones and they just aren't the same. I often crush a spoonful of the peas and add to the dressing - it gives it a creamy consistency.

Love the way bloggers share ideas with each other. Barbara, I like your idea of crushing some chickpeas to add to the dressing. Sara, also a great idea to cook a lot of chickpeas and freeze. Thanks everybody for nice thoughts.

This salad sounds delish and I can't wait to try it. I've been soaking and cooking my own garbanzos for hummus for a while now and really do think they are preferable over canned.

One question: When a recipe states "1/2 cup chopped basil," does this mean you measure 1/2 cup of basil and then chop it OR you chop basil and measure 1/2 cup? You wind up with more herbs the second way (I think!).

MsBlueKatt, when I write "1/2 cup chopped basil" in a recipe it means a half-cup measure packed with chopped basil. One thing I like about Fine Cooking magazine is the explanation of these kinds of things. You could write 1/2 cup basil, chopped if you mean to measure the basil after chopping. But thanks for the question; I could certainly make it more clear in the way I write it. BTW, in a salad like this I think the measurement of herbs doesn't have to be that exact. If I made it in the winter when I had to buy basil I'd probably be using less, but I have a lot of basil in my garden right now.

In my new kitchen (whenever I get it) I'm going to be cooking more chickpeas and other beans from dried, too. Why does the idea of a new kitchen become so inspiring for this kind of thing? hahaha!Great looking salad!

I found this recipe a couple of months ago and decided to try it for my son, the vegetarian. Wow! I didn't have red wine vinegar on hand, so I substituted balsamic - and it was fantastic. I bought the dried beans and soaked them, and I really think it makes a tremendous difference, especially in the sodium content. The first time my son tried it, he was eating it a day after I'd made it. He enjoyed it, but I told him how much better it is first time around. A few weeks ago, I made it for him since he was babysitting our bulldogs. I mixed the dressing shortly before we left the house, so it would be just right when he got there. He ate nearly the whole recipe!

Hi Kalyn, nice recipe. There is something about chickpeas they always look so nice in a salad or pasta, or even with rice. I cooked a bucket load of chickpeas yesterday so I will be making this salad tonight.

Can I share a chickpea trick I learned from Lucy of Nourish Me? Soak your chickpeas for several days in the fridge, in water with a tablespoon of yoghurt mixed in. It results in the softest creamiest chickpeas when cooked. The difference is very noticeable.

Just made this salad last night and it was amazing. Chickpeas are a great ingredient to use. The fresh herbs added such a punch to the salad. Glad we got the kalamata olives! Can't wait to try more of your recipes!

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

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